Homegrown Player signing Anthony Fontana scored in MLS debut, CJ Sapong added a goal to pick up where he left off last season, and the Philadelphia Union dispatched the nine-man New England Revolution 2-0 on Saturday night.
Sapong also got behind Anthony Milnar Delamea to get the Revs defender sent off in the 24th minute for denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Fellow Revs center back Claude Dielna received his marching orders 62 minutes later for a second yellow card.
After playing for Philadelphia's Bethlehem Steel USL side last year, the 18-year-old Fontana started in the central midfield role expected to eventually be occupied by new Designated Player signing Borek Dockal.
But after the more experienced Sapong and David Accam both failed to put away promising chances early, Fontana finally gave Philadelphia the lead moments before the break when he hammered home the deflection of Alejandro Bedoya's.
Sapong, who had a career-best 16 league goals in 2017, would eventually get his first of the new campaign with a one-touch finish of substitute Cory Burke's cross.
Goals
Three Things
- The Big Picture: It's hard to make any grand conclusions about what these teams will look like playing most MLS sides 11-on-11. But the New England Revolution are now facing a home opener next weekend where both center backs will be serving red card suspensions.
- Moment of the Match: The Revolution looked dangerous at times early, but that all changed after Delamea pulled down Sapong as he raced to reach an early cross. With no one else between Sapong and the goal, referee Rubiel Vazquez reached to his back pocket, turning the flow of the action toward New England's end for most of the game's remainder.
- Man of the Match: On a sharper day he might've had a brace, but Sapong still made the plays that mattered most, beginning with getting Delamea sent off. His near-post run also led to Fontana's opener before he sealed the game himself.
Next Up
- PHI: Saturday, March 17 – vs. Columbus Crew SC (2 pm ET | MLS LIVE; on DAZN in Canada)
- NE: Saturday, March 10 – vs. Colorado Rapids (1:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE; on DAZN in Canada)
